Bulgaria Ski discussion board

The short answer is - sorry but no.

I live in Cyprus, so this was an easy place for us to get to so I had high(ish) hopes of it becoming a regular retreat, but it hasn't really lived up to expectations (which were not that high anyway)

Now its true if the weather was good then it would rate a LITTLE higher, but not that much (Current conditions for those interested, is rain in Bansko, sleet at mid point and snow at top - but it really needs a temp drop of 4-5 degrees to make it work well) but no-one seems to be able to predict this with any accuracy.

I have traveled a lot so I am very aware of culture differences, but I'm afraid that as a generalisation greed has taken over and I have felt ripped off in several places. Now I'm more than happy to eat cheap food cheaply and just as happy to eat good food expensively, but I don't like eating cheap food expensively. I'm quite sure if I search high and low that we will find the odd place still offering good value, but to do that I'd have to risk falling down open man holes (yes it was VERY close to one of us falling down a totally unmarked 10 foot drop), getting soaked (did I mention that its raining) and strolling down generally dirty streets being hassled on most of the street corners to go into some "bargain" bar.

Its not all bad, generally people have been friendly - we have found the guys at the ski & snowboard centre just across from the gondola are excellent, both for hire and ski school, I'd highly recommend them - the prices up at the slopes are reasonable considering where they are, HHB Holidays did our airport pickup and were on time, efficient, friendly and good value.

But Bansko itself in my opinion is set for a fall, its only attraction over France, Italy, Austria was the price of the overall holiday, whilst it is still cheaper, short term greed is set to reduce that to a point where they will no longer be able to justify their unarguably lower standards and smaller ski areas. Just take a good look at any of the menus as an example of what I mean - the prices are all written on in marker pen which has been updated many times and I suspect, not downwards!